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8. The number of Boats on the Register on December 31st, 1909:—
(a) Number of Boats believed to be in use or available 18
(b) Number of Boats that cannot be traced 7
9. No Boats were registered in 1909.
Removal of Human Bones.
Human bones were discovered during the course of excavation for the
purpose of constructing a strong room for the London and Provincial Bank, at
167, Whitechapel Road. The area excavated, measured 25 feet by 10 feet and
10 feet deep. The remains were found at depths varying from 2 to 8 feet, and
consisted of bones belonging to at least 80 bodies. They were not unearthed
from any particular part of the portion of the earth excavated, but were distributed
over the whole area. No remains of coffins were discovered either as
wood, nails or brass plates. No skeleton was discovered complete with the
bones in situ, but on the contrary, six or seven skulls were found quite close to
each other.
In the earth between the bones, a farthing was found dated 1733. From
the presence of the farthing, and also of ancient drain pipes of very old and
others of more recent origin it looks as if an old plague-pit in the immediate
neighbourhood had been disturbed at some time after the year 1733, and the
contents were re-buried at the rear of No. 167. It is well-known that the Mount
—which was close by—was constructed by Oliver Cromwell as a military
fortification during the Civil War in 1660. The Whitechapel Road—or as it
was then called the Road to Harwich—was the main thoroughfare by which
the Royalist troops could enter London from the Eastern Counties. There is
no record that any engagement took place at the Mount in which a number
of soldiers were slain. There is no official record that a plague-pit existed at
this spot. It has been handed down by tradition that there was a plague-pit
at the Mount. This may mean that it was actually at the Mount itself or in
its immediate vicinity. On the other hand the portion of the earth that has
been already excavated at No. 167, Whitechapel Road, may be the situation of
the plague-pit itself. I am disinclined to believe this from the position of the
bones themselves and the presence of the farthing. It is quite possible that in
levelling down the Mount they filled up the holes and hollows at the same time,
and that the human remains were removed with the earth. The Mount was
undoubtedly in existence in 1748.
The plague occurred in 1665, and in June of that year it was very prevalent
in the then West End parishes of Holborn, St. Giles, and St. Martins-in-the-